Malawi
Although many of us are already fully committed to praying for Malawi, it will do no harm to remind us of their need. As a church, we have for many years (since Colin first introduced us to Abraham) we have supported mission, missionaries and Malawian nationals in their work, study and lives.
Malawi is obviously a land of great need. It has a far more stable government that many poor countries but still open to abuse of power (they are currently working towards a rerun of their general election due to widely recognised vote fixing).
But do have a flourishing Christian Church thanks to the legacy of early British missionaries who brought the gospel to Malawi. The church also has probably significantly greater freedom than here in the UK to preach the gospel in the public arena, but they do suffer from two big problems.
Firstly there is the growing threat to Christians from Islam especially in some areas where the Muslims are turning increasingly militant, and the great poverty that affects all. Malawi is ranked the third poorest country in the world.
This poses obvious problems at any time, but especially now that the Coronavirus has been detected in the country. Most people live a hand-to-mouth existance needing to sell produce in local markets in order to live, this obviously makes social distancing very hard. Here is internal dispute regarding the practicality of any form of lockdown given the need of the poor to go out daily. The complete lack of PPE including such basics as soap makes keeping yourself and family safe is fairly impossible, and the lack of hospital equipment, staff, and resources make the whole country very vulnerable.
Praise God that so far, His hand of protection has been upon Malawi. The WorldOmeter site gives the total number of confirmed cases to date as 63 with only 3 confirmed deaths and 24 recoveries! Obviously many cases in rural areas may not even have been reported as such, but nevertheless amazingly low figures. Pray that this will continue and that those involved in trying to help there who we know will be blessed in their work, and protected in their bodies.